


It was just Red

by Torlia



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Blue - Freeform, Death, M/M, Red - Freeform, Voltron, black - Freeform, galra - Freeform, green - Freeform, kerberos - Freeform, klance, yellow - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-11
Updated: 2017-07-11
Packaged: 2018-12-01 01:20:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,374
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11475609
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Torlia/pseuds/Torlia
Summary: The alarm boomed out through every speaker, calling out in the entire castle. Hunk left his cookies undone, Pidge came flying down from the secret attic holding onto Rover, Keith and Shiro dropped their blades and ran from the training room mid-fight and Lance appeared drowsily having been woken up from his second nap. Allura stood in her fighting suit, her hair put up in a bun, ready for a mission.“Listen up paladins!” she called out into the room, her voice booming just as strong as the alarm. Keith pushed a little on Lance, urging him to wake up properly. “We have heard news from the Aredians that the Galra have attacked Kerberos, and are trying to enslave the Aredians living there!”





	It was just Red

The alarm boomed out through every speaker, calling out in the entire castle. Hunk left his cookies undone, Pidge came flying down from the secret attic holding onto Rover, Keith and Shiro dropped their blades and ran from the training room mid-fight and Lance appeared drowsily having been woken up from his second nap. Allura stood in her fighting suit, her hair put up in a bun, ready for a mission.   
“Listen up paladins!” she called out into the room, her voice booming just as strong as the alarm. Keith pushed a little on Lance, urging him to wake up properly. “We have heard news from the Aredians that the Galra have attacked Kerberos, and are trying to enslave the Aredians living there!”  
“What?” Pidge exclaimed, her voice pitching a little higher in her confusion. “But there was no report of life on Kerberos during The Kerberos mission?”  
“Yeah, we only saw the Galra when we were there to collect ice,” Shiro chimed in, his hands crossed over his chest, something they had noticed he would do sometimes when he didn’t understand something.  
“I understand your confusion. The Aredians are masters at disguising themselves, after all,” Allura explained. “Their body is much like humans, but their skin is light blue like the ice on Kerberos, and their eyes are completely dark blue, having no irises. At least visible ones, I didn’t study Aredian anatomy in the altean library.”  
“What was their distress call?” Shiro asked.  
“They were calling out for help, explaining shortly how the Galra had arrived and were attacking their village. They had gone into hiding, but expected them to find their hiding place soon,” Allura said hurriedly, turning around to steer the castle again. “Get ready paladins, we will arrive at Kerberos in five ticks!”  
Lance was finally wide awake, ready to pitch in as the right leg of Voltron, and to kick some ass as the individual blue lion. He was running to get on his suit and get in the lion, feeling the ticks running away from him, worried he would be slower than the other, not being ready to fight when he had to. Luckily he had been doing this for some time, his stress making him get in his lion faster than the others, smug for when they also got in their lions.   
“What took you all the time, fellas?” he chuckled when he knew they were all seated. “I thought we had a planet to save?”  
“Shut up, Lance,” Keith sighed exasperated.   
“Noted,”  
They arrived at Kerberos a few ticks later, feeling the atmosphere already getting colder a long way from the surface.   
“Paladins! You will have to find the Aredians and get them to safety before taking care of the Galra! Our first priority is their safety!” Allura’s voice was heard through their helmets.  
“Got it, princess. How will we do that?” Shiro asked.  
“I will drop you off here and land the castle someplace away from the Galra. The lions will bring you to the castle when you’ve found the Aredians. Let the old and the sick ride with the lions, and guide the others in a safe line hidden by the snow and ice. Now, go!”  
The lions all flew out of the castle, heading in a straight line down into the snow. They landed softly, anxious if they made too much noise the Galra would find them. Everyone breathed heavily, looking around to see either an unfamiliar or a way too familiar face to pop up to greet them. The lions kept them warm, as did the suits, but still Lance was already feeling cold. When nothing happened they all let out a collective sigh of relief.  
“Okay, now how will we find blue people in the ice?” Lance asked, looking through the white snow and ominously blue ice. “Seriously, Allura did say they were masters of disguise, so how did she expect us to find them?”  
No one answered.  
“Guys?”  
“We’re here, Lance, we’re just thinking,” Keith answered, his voice coming through his helmet.   
“Maybe something in the lions can help us?” Hunk thought out loud.  
“Great idea, Hunk!” Pidge exclaimed. “I installed a searching device in my lion so that she would be able to sense life when nearby. I have a radar pulled up now. Follow me; we know where we’re going!”   
The green lion and Pidge led the way through the thick snow and slippery ice, following the signals on Pidge’s radar to see if it led them to the Aredians or the Galra, hoping it wouldn’t be the latter. Lance shivered just by looking at the shining ice crystals outside, not looking forward to leaving the comfortable warmth of his lion.  
“We should be here now,” Pidge suddenly said, making Lance jump slightly in his seat. “The radar says there is life right here, right where we’re standing.”  
“Maybe it has malfunctioned?” Keith suggested. Lance leaned back in his seat, forcing down the exasperated sigh forcing its way up his throat. His head popped up when he saw the snow move in front of the lions, revealing the blue underneath, a human-y head popping out of it.  
“Or maybe not!” Lance was smiling brightly. “Look ahead!”  
They all looked as the snow fell away from the Aredian walking in awe towards them. They looked indeed like a human, their shape resembling them greatly. This Aredian looked like a woman, her long hair white and falling over her shoulder. She was wearing what looked like tight pants, high blue boots, and a thick jacket with white fur around the rim of the hood. Her big blue eyes were shining up on them, her blue fingers held lightly against her dark blue lips. Allura had been right when she said they had no irises. The Aredian was looking up on them, her eyes completely blue.   
“Great work, Pidge!” Shiro praised.   
“Yea, awesome tech, Pidgeon!” Lance chuckled, now eager to get out of his lion to greet this Aredian.   
“Thanks,” Pidge mumbled. They could hear how red she was turning from the praise.   
They all jumped out of their lions, their helmets instantly closing to spare them from the immense cold. Lance felt the drop in temperature as soon as he walked out of Blue. He didn’t feel the icy cold since his suit kept him warm, but it felt uncomfortable since he much rather would be warm. At least he wouldn’t freeze to death.   
“Voltron has arrived,” the Aredian sighed happily, her hands clasped together. Her voice was light and sounded like a little bell.   
“What’s your name?” Shiro asked.  
“I am Amaryllis,” the girl greeted, putting a hand to her heart and bowing deeply. Lance met Keith’s eyes in confusion. Lance just shrugged, turning back to Amaryllis. She stood up straight after a few seconds bowed. “I was sent to welcome you, and bring you down to the elder Isander.”  
“Lead the way, gorgeous,” Lance smirked.  
“Lance!” came the collective reply from every paladin. Amaryllis just stood there staring confused at him, not really knowing what to do in the situation other than to bring the paladins to the others as she had been ordered to.   
“Follow me, Paladins,” she waved her hand over to a hill of snow. She reached into the snow, fumbling until they heard a satisfactory click, opening a hidden door.   
They were walking through corridors leading further down into the ground. The walls were lit up by blue torches, giving the corridors a little warmth. The paladin’s helmets felt the slight warmth, opening the helmets so they would be able to talk more easily. Lance ran up next to Amaryllis, keeping a steady pace next to her while giving her his biggest and, in his opinion, most handsome grin.  
“So, Amaryllis,” he began, getting her attention. “What are you planning to do after we kick some Galra ass?”  
“I was planning to just return to Kerberos and continue as normal,” Amaryllis admitted, looking confused over at Lance. “Why? Would that be wrong?”  
“I don’t know, maybe you’d like a ride in Blue afterwards?” Lance smirked. “Maybe give a kiss to this brave paladin after he saves your planet?”  
Amaryllis finally seemed to get what Lance was implying, laughing softly, placing a slander hand over her eyes.   
“Oh, sweet Paladin, forgive me, but you seem to have us misunderstood. Nothing big, just a cultural difference,” Amaryllis chuckled, letting her hand fall again. “Aredians only take same sex partners. But you are free to ask what you just asked of me of Erasmus. He is our prettiest man after all.”  
Keith and Pidge laughed, having overheard the entire conversation, watching Lance struggle to swallow what he had just heard. Watching Lance get rejected was always fun, but this was just hilarious. They stopped abruptly when Lance simply shrugged.  
“Sweet, I’ll try that,” he said, smiling confidently to himself as they continued down. Pidge’s jaw fell to the floor, looking over to Keith expecting the same reaction. She stared in wonder as Keith’s only reaction was flushing so red his face nearly matched his suit. Pidge smirked knowingly, her eyes switching from Lance to Keith. Finally she caught Keith’s eyes.  
“What?” he muttered.   
“Nothing,” Pidge snickered. “It’s just a little red.”

Shiro had been brought up to speak for the Paladins, explaining how they would get the Aredians to safety. A pool of Aredians had gathered to listen, everyone wearing the same clothes staring at their saviours with big blue eyes. As soon as they had arrived into the damp little room full of these Aredians, Lance had gone to flirt with Erasmus who Amaryllis had pointed out. It had seemed to go well, until Pidge deliberately dragged him away up to their podium, sending a glance to Keith on the way up. He was stubbornly looking anywhere but them.  
“Our lions are parked outside,” Shiro began. “They will bring us to the castle, and Allura who is waiting there. Then Coran and Allura will take care of you until Voltron has ridden Kerberos of the Galra. The old, the sick and the children will travel in the blue lion, while everyone able to walk will be in a line protected by the Paladins and our bayards.”  
“Shiro, why the blue lion?” Lance piped up, raising his hand as if he was in a classroom.  
“Because if an emergency may occur the blue lion had better camouflage in the ice than the rest of the lions,” Shiro explained hurriedly. Lance just shrugged. It made sense when he said it like that. “If we must fight on the way, you can ride in Red with Keith.”  
Shiro’s words had finality to them, Lance couldn’t have argued even if he wanted to. Not that he did.  
“I will walk in the front with elder Isander, in the middle you will be protected by Pidge and Hunk, and the back of the line will be in the protection of Lance and Keith,” Shiro announced, calling for the Aredians to begin ascending from the hiding place. Isander stopped him before walking with them.  
“Are you sure it is wise to leave the vulnerable back of the line to the blue and red paladin?” he asked in a hushed voice. Keith and Lance still heard.   
“Naturally? Keith’s bayard is a sword, he is good at close combat, and Lance is our sharpshooter,” Shiro said confused, not understanding his anxiety.   
“It’s just that I have heard of how the lions choose their paladins,” Isander whispered. “The red paladin is the one led by instinct, something that can of course be great, but that means he can be reckless!”  
Shiro gave Keith a quick look, knowing he heard what Isander was saying, worried that Keith would take it personally.   
“Your worry is noted, but I can assure you that Keith will protect your people with his life,” then they walked off to stand in the front.   
Lance, having also heard the hushed whispers, felt Keith tense next to him. He placed a careful hand on Keith’s shoulder, smiling encouragingly to him as soon as he looked up.   
“Don’t listen to that old man said, he doesn’t know you!” Lance’s smile brightened. “And he certainly doesn’t know your skill!”  
“Thanks, Lance,” Keith chuckled, looking away as he felt his ears redden. Lance felt his face flush at Keith’s tender voice, rummaging his brain to try and change the mood that only made him flustered.   
“Of course, he doesn’t know my skills either, and obviously doesn’t know how much better I am!” he chuckled, rubbing at the nape of his neck, looking everywhere but on Keith. “You know, I was called the Tailor because of how I-“  
“Yes, because of how you thread the needle,” Keith finished, smirking up at him, meeting his eyes. “Sharpshooter.”  
Lance turned bright red as Keith walked away, following in his place behind the line of Aredians. Lance stood left in his place on the podium, flustered and blushing madly. He had to lightly slap his cheeks before taking the place next to Keith.   
“What was that on your face?” Keith asked, smiling, already knowing what it was.  
“It was just a little bit of red,” Lance answered monotonously, looking straightforward. He didn’t want to turn and meet Keith’s violet eyes. He could feel them staring at him. Lance could feel him smiling, and glanced over. He flushed when he saw Keth’s face. “What?”  
“Nothing,”  
The black lion was leading the way to the castle, followed by the blue lion filled with Aredians, then came Green, Yellow and Red. Lance was holding onto his bayard, ready at any moment to attack as soon as he saw a glimpse of a purple head. Keith was doing the same, his grip hardening and loosing on the hilt of his sword. It had been quiet up till now, the only sounds being heavy breathing and boots stomping through snow and crushing ice. Apparently it was enough to show the Galra where they were. The first sign of enemy attack was a laser ray shooting into the snow next to the line, melting both snow and ice but missing the line by a few metres. The Aredians were trying very hard not to panic as they started running forwards.   
“Shiro!” Keith called out into his helmet. He didn’t wait for a reply. “Try to get as many Aredians as you can into the lions. Red, Lance and I will hold them off until you get them to safety!” The red lion came flying to the back of the line as though he had heard the Keith, opening his jaws and shoving Lance and Keith to the steers. Lance was hanging over Keith’s seat.  
“So what am I here for? It’s not exactly like I can control Red with you?” Lance asked.  
“Tips and assisting,” Keith replied through gritted teeth, flying Red into the tiny Galra ships shooting at them, ruining them in the collision.   
“What can I teach you that you don’t already know?”  
“Okay, moral support!” Keith sighed. “I certainly didn’t bring you to distract me!”  
As soon as all the smaller ships had been destroyed, Keith crashed Red into the control centre, sat up a little bit away. The collision rattled the paladins, making Lance fall to the floor, coming up again with a pout.   
“Nice work,” he said sourly.  
“Should’ve had Hunk here instead,” Keith hissed, remembering how the yellow lion usually was the one pushing into things.   
They had crashed into the one of the highest floors, the guards steaming in to check the damage. Keith stayed in Red shooting fire on the guards while Lance climbed to the top of Red’s head, shooting those who came too close. Soon the guards were all wiped out, no more coming.  
“Do you think that was all of them, or did we scare them away?” Lance asked, climbing back into Red.  
“I don’t know, but we should somehow destroy this place,” Keith said in all seriousness. “Just to be sure that they won’t bother the Aredians again.”  
“I don’t know man, we should probably wait for the others,” Lance hesitated, clicking his tongue pondering.   
“They might take too long coming here. We should just finish the job while we’re here,” Keith kept pushing on, already starting to climb down from Red. “Allura said there was no Galra ship outside of Kerberos, so all we have to do is take down this control centre and we’ll have freed them.”  
“What about back up?”   
“Didn’t you see how we handled this? We’ll be fine,” Keith was so sure they could end this, Lance was practically dragged with. After all, he didn’t want Keith to get hurt.  
“Are you sure this is not you trying to prove some stupid point to Isander?” Lance asked hesitantly as they tip toed through the halls. Keith didn’t answer at once.   
“I just want to save the Aredians,” Keith whispered, trying his best to sound convincing.   
“And proving to Isander that he is wrong is just a bonus?”  
“Yes, okay?”  
“Keit, you don’t have to prove yourself to some stupid elder,” Lance sighed, trying to smile. “We all know how awesome you are.”  
“You heard him, Lance,” Keith whispered, for the first time showing something real. Showing how insecure he actually was. “People have heard of the reckless, wild red paladin, driven by instinct and angry beyond everyone else.”  
“No one said anything about you being angry,”  
“We don’t know what they’re saying,” Lance sighed heavily, dragging his free hand through his messy hair. They had left the helmets behind in Red.  
“Fine, then let’s go and prove some stupid elder wrong,” he whispered, forcing a chuckle that sounded dark and humourless.   
They had only walked through a few hallways when they got to a big door leading to a control table. It looked abandoned, the leader of this mission probably escaped with his tail between his legs. Keith ran over to the table, turning it on by placing his hand flat on the buttons. He looked through the files, using some tricks Pidge had taught him to send the most important files to Red. Then he pulled out a thin screw from one of the broken walls, pushing it into the control table’s circuit while pushing a lot of buttons. Another trick taught by Pidge. A countdown to self destruct began counting down from the Kerberos equivalent of two earth minutes. Keith turned around, smiling proudly of himself. His smile dropped suddenly causing Lance to turn around to look at what Keith might have seen. The leader hadn’t run away. He had hidden, and waited for the right moment to come out, one of the guard’s guns aimed to Lance’s chest.   
“Lance watch out!” Keith screamed out.  
Everything went a little blurry after that as Lance tried to pull up his bayard, the adrenaline making everything seem much slower than it actually was. In reality, it all happened so fast. Keith had spun around Lance, hugging onto him for his life as the Galra fired his gun right before Lance fired his own. Lance saw the Galra leader fall to the floor, having hit him right in the chest. He let out a sigh of relief, smiling down at Keith who was still hugging onto him.  
And then he wasn’t smiling anymore.  
Keith started shaking slightly as his legs gave out under him, and he slid to the floor, still holding onto Lance for his life. Lance fell with him, clutching hard around him as he tried to understand what was happening. Keith had been hit by the Galra, and was now bleeding heavily from his chest. The bullet had entered his back, and gone out through his back, stopped by Lance’s chestplate, and Keith as a body shield.   
“No no no no no no,” Lance kept repeating, pressing down on Keith’s wound. Red blood was oozing out of his wound, and Keith was staring up at Lance, his violet eyes wide. “No, no, no, you’ll be fine! You’ll be just fine! It’s not that bad! It’s just a little red!”  
“Lance,” Keith whispered weakly.  
“No! Shush! Save your strength!” Lance was nearly sobbing, clutching to Keith, pressing down on his wound so that he would stop bleeding.   
“Lance, please,” Keith chuckled, coughing up more red as he did. “Let’s be realistic.”  
“No! No, I’ll get help! Red! Red!” Lance screamed, his voice hoarse, his sobs breaking through his desperate screams. “Red lion! Your paladin needs you! Come!”  
“Lance, stop, you’re hurting my ears,” Keith smiled weakly, staring up at Lance. Red blood had covered his chest by now, just as blue tears were falling from Lance’s eyes. Keith looked Lance up and down, lifting his hand slowly to put it on Lance’s cheek. Lance helped him by holding it there.   
“Look, Keith, I’m cradling you in my arms,” Lance sobbed, smiling through the tears.   
“So you did remember the bonding moment,” Keith whispered, gasping weakly before smiling. “You are such a liar.”  
Lance was sobbing ugly, tears clouding his eyes. He willed them to go away, so he could see Keith clearly.   
“Since we are admitting lies now,” Keith began, smirking lightly. “I remember you from the garrison.”  
“You’re a liar too,” Lance whispered, entangling their fingers and placing Keith’s hand on top of his chest so that he didn’t have to use all of his strength.  
“Hey, I sure showed Isander, didn’t I?” Keith chuckled. He was smiling so brightly, Lance fell into a new fit of tears. He bowed down, letting his forehead lean on Keith’s.   
“I’m gonna die,” Keith whispered. Lance opened his eyes, staring horrified on Keith.   
“Don’t say that!” Lance hissed, forcing back the tears now. “You’ll be fine!”  
“No, Lance, I won’t,” Keith chuckled. Tears started falling from his eyes too. They were forcing their way, even though Lance could see Keith didn’t want to cry. “Have you seen this wound? There is no way I’m gonna survive.”  
“Don’t,” Lance choked out. “Please, don’t.”  
“Lance McClain,” Keith smiled. “My sharpshooter.”  
“Don’t, Keith,”  
“I was lucky to have met you,”  
“Keith, stop!”  
“I was lucky to have known you,”  
“Keith, this is not goodbye!”  
“And last but not last, I was lucky to have fallen in love with you,”  
“Don’t say goodbye!”  
“I love you, Lance McClain,” Keith smiled so brightly, kissing Lance for the first and the last time.  
“I love you too,” Lance choked out. “Keith Kogane.”  
Keith smiled, closing his eyes. Lance knew he wouldn’t open them again. The ticking behind him reminded him that he could still die here with him, if he just decided to sit here instead of running. Lance closed his eyes, pressing a kiss to Keith’s forehead.   
“Goodbye,” he whispered as the ticking intensified and the first row of explosions could be heard downstairs. What happened next was a blur. Red came swooping in, picking them both up and flying out to rendezvous with the other paladins back at the castle.  
When everyone ran into Red to see how it went back on the control centre, all they were faced with was Lance, still cradling Keith’s cold body, sobbing into his hair. Oh that stupid mullet that he had hated so much. He couldn’t talk, he couldn’t explain what had happened. Everyone already knew. They could see what had happened clearly. Allura fell to her knees, sobbing quietly into her hands, Coran holding a hand in her hair staring sadly down at the red paladin. Pidge turned around and clutched onto Hunk as they both started wailing, hugging onto each other for comfort. Shiro was very quiet, holding onto Red’s seat, clutching it for his dear life, trying so hard to hold back tears. He had known Keith the longest after all, he had been like a brother to him. The red lion himself could be heard wailing softly. But out of all, no one could cry as hard as Lance did as he still clutched onto Keith.  
Keith had been given an Altean funeral, his body covered in flowers and carried by Coran, Shiro and Hunk. They had asked if Lance would carry him too, but he had refused. As Keith was lain down on a stone bed down in a grave chamber in the bottom of the castle, Allura placed the last of her Altean flowers on top of his head. He had been cleaned and dressed in white clothes, and he looked so pale there he lied. Keith didn’t have any family on earth, no one there to miss him. The only family he had in the end was his family here. Allura, Coran, Shiro, Hunk, Pidge and Lance. A few of the Aredians had come to the funeral to pay their respect, just like many others Voltron had saved. Shay was holding onto Hunk as he sobbed, Pidge was surrounded by Olkaeri who all wanted to comfort her as she cried silently. Members of the Blade of Marmora were there, standing with Shiro and laying down Keith’s blade next to him. Allura was holding onto Coran, crying with him. Lance stood alone, staring down at Keith.   
“At least it was just the red,” he heard Isander whisper at one point. Hunk had to hold him back.   
“Hey,” Lance turned to see Amaryllis walk up to him. She looked at him quietly for a while.  
“Erasmus wasn’t exactly the one for you, was he?” she whispered, seeing the way Lance looked longingly at Keith. Lance just shook his head. “Well, the red paladin went out a hero. The Aredians will tell stories of him, write poems about him. We will eternally be grateful to him for what he has done for us. Sacrificing himself for someone he loved? His end was poetic.”  
Lance looked up at Amaryllis, his eyes glazed over, looking as sad as anyone had ever seen him.   
“Nothing ever ends poetically,” he whispered, looking back at Keith, falling to his knees next to him, clutching onto his cold hand. “It ends and we turn it into poetry. All that blood was never once beautiful. It was just red.”

**Author's Note:**

> I'm so sorry, trust me, I cried while writing this


End file.
